“Anyway, she’s had her eye on Modi for the past three hundred years or so, but she’s probably going to have to hit the boy over the head with a tree for him to notice her. That’s probably my fault though. I’m always dragging the boys off on hunting trips and such. They’re never in Asgaard long enough to make any social connections.”
Thor stopped talking, and regarded Meghan, as if he’d just realized he’d been rambling. They’d been lucky. None of the giants bothered them. Meghan slid some of the crates against the door, so they’d have some warning before they were discovered, but the giants seemed occupied with other matters, and she and Thor were able to remain hidden.
Thor chuckled. “I’m sorry. Please forgive an old man’s ramblings.”
Meghan smiled. “You have a great family. I really like them.”
Thor regarded her with curiosity in his eyes. “I don’t recall seeing you around Asgaard. Are you from Vanaheim?”
“Minneapolis,” Meghan said.
Thor’s eyes grew wide. “A mortal?”
Meghan just nodded.
Thor squinted at her. “By all the gods, if my eyes weren’t so muddled I’d have seen it. What is Jord thinking, getting a mortal mixed up in all this?”
“I blame Meg . . . Meging . . ., ”she still couldn’t pronounce the darn belt’s name, “your belt.”
Meghan sat down on one of the boxes in the storeroom and told Thor everything that had happened. Well, almost everything. She did leave out that morning at the cabin, though when she got to that part she felt the warmth fill her.
“Jord killed Surtr?” Thor looked astonished.
“He had a big snowstorm to help him.”
“And Ragnarok has been proven false?”
“It looks like it.” Meghan saw something dawn on the God of Thunder.
“Well, it also looks like you got here just in time to save my sorry hide. They were planning on just keeping me tied up and hidden away, like we did to Fenrir all those years. I imagine that all would have changed once they found out they didn’t have to keep me alive.”
Meghan put an ear to the door. She heard the tramp of heavy boots going by in the hallway outside. “Do you have any idea what we should do next?”
The old god struggled to his feet. “If you’d let me borrow that club of yours, I’ll see what I can do to get us out of here.”
He still appeared incredibly weak, but Thor stood solidly and his breathing was steady. As she handed over Prudr, Thor gave her a wink.
“I’ve been in tighter spots, girl.” There was fire in his eyes. “Not much tighter, for sure, but we’ll get out of this, don’t you worry.”
Thor activated the club and gave the weapon a few experimental swings.
“Good balance. It’s not Mjolnir, but it’ll do.”
Meghan could feel Thor’s confidence grow as he swung the weapon. “There’s only about a thousand giants between us and the surface.” He winked at her. “They’ll need to bring in some reinforcements to make it a really fair fight.”
Meghan smiled. Nothing seemed to break the spirit of this god. Looking at Thor made her think of Jord. Jord had a hero’s soul, just like his father.
Jord. Where was he? Did he even know she was here? Meghan ached just to see him again. To be held in his arms. See the twinkle in those smoky gray eyes.
Thor hobbled over to the door, but stopped and put a hand on Meghan’s shoulder. He gazed deeply into her eyes. “Now girl, use that necklace. Stay behind me, so I don’t hit you by accident. And if I go down, you just keep going. Don’t you dare stop for me.”
Meghan shook her head. “How would I find my way out without you?”
“Oh, you would, girl. There’s a good deal more about you than you realize. But, let’s hope you don’t have to find your way out alone, for both our sakes.”
Meghan activated the necklace, turning herself invisible, while Thor moved the boxes she’d pushed in front of the door.
Thor smiled as he opened the door. “The giants gave me a pretty good beating this morning. Let’s go return the favor.”
Chapter 23
“You care for this mortal . . .”
His mother’s words echoed through his mind. And she was right. Jord did care for Meghan. Even though he’d only known her a few days, the spunky brunette had grown on him. He enjoyed spending time with her, and he wanted to spend more. Her spirit made him soar, and her body made him hard. Just thinking about her made him ache with desire. He knew, deep down inside, if anything were to happen to her, a part of him would die.
Yes, he wanted to rescue his father. He would do all he could to accomplish that. But Thor had lived for over three thousand years. Meghan had been alive what? Maybe thirty?
Why was he even thinking this way? He’d rescue them both. They’d all go back to Asgaard, and the golden city would be saved. Isn’t that the way all the great legends went?
Jord knew better. As a professor of ancient history he’d studied the old myths and legends, so many of them were based on the true stories, and most ended in tragedy, death, and loss.
Jord stood at a crossroads in the caverns. The tunnel continued straight ahead and branched both right and left. Three choices. Was there even a right choice to make here?
Forward. He would move forward. In all those tales the hero forged ahead, toward whatever fate had waiting. A real hero wouldn’t turn aside from his fate, but faced it head on.
“We’ll go straight.” He saw his mother nod, and the three gods went down the tunnel ahead. Jord would go boldly forward whatever the fates had in store for him.
The tunnel widened, and in the distance he could hear the sounds of mining picks hitting rock. An acrid smell hung heavily in the air. The smell reminded Jord of the forges in Nidavellir, the home of the dwarves. The caverns ahead were lit by torches and great fires. The reddish glow appeared ominous.
The tunnel entered a large cavernous area above the floor level and as Jord looked down on the suffering and brutality of the giants, he knew instantly where he was. The slave pits of Jotunheim. Meghan had seen this place in her dream. Was she here now? The thought of her shackled and brutalized caused rage to burn in his gut.
Slaves of all kinds, Aesir and Vanir, mortal and dwarven, even bright elves, shackled in heavy chains, worked to mine the ore from the walls, expanding the space as they went. Huge forges in the far end of the cavern turned the ore into iron, and fouled the air. Giant blacksmiths pounded the iron into weapons of war.
A scraggly stone giant, just below him, was applying a whip to some poor soul, and something just snapped inside of Jord. Leaping from the ledge, he fell on the giant, bringing Mjolnir down and crushing the beast’s skull.
“For Asgaard!” He pulled the chains apart, shattering the links that held the poor slave captive. He turned, seeing another giant approaching, and threw Mjolnir. As the giant crumpled to the cave floor, Jord thundered into battle. “Death to the giants!” To his surprise the battle cry was echoed throughout the cavern.
“Death to the giants!” Slaves everywhere used their picks, rocks, or even bare hands, to attack their captors. The giants fought back. Strong brutes, not easily overtaken, but they’d grown lazy over the years, and the attack took them by surprise.
Jord saw his mother, her sword coated in blood, standing in a ring of dead giants. Freyr found a key, and was unlocking manacles. The freed slaves did not run, but continued to fight, trying to free their companions in the great cavern.
“Death to the giants!” The battle cry rang out stronger and stronger, and the ex-slaves fell on their former taskmasters to extract revenge for years of torture and suffering.
Flinging himself into the thick of things, Jord hacked and bashed his way toward the forges at the back of the cavern. The huge blacksmiths l
eft off their hammering and were picking up large swords, making ready to attack the slaves revolting around them. The poor souls closest to the giant smiths would stand little chance against those brutes.
Jord flung Mjolnir across the cavern. The hammer flew in an arcing path of destruction through the ranks of the advancing giants before returning to him. Three of the brutes went down, and he caught the attention of the rest as he’d hoped.
“Yeah, right here ugly.” He taunted them, and the giants charged him, ignoring the slaves around them. A bow twanged off to his right and he saw Freyr taking up a position behind an ore cart.
Freyr shouted to him. “Okay, hero, you’ve got their attention. What now?”
“We take them down,” Jord heard his mother say, as she joined him on his left. “We take them all down.”
There were probably twenty of the large frost giant blacksmiths, and probably another three dozen of the smaller stone giants, grouped up and heavily armed. The ex-slaves around him were struggling to shed their chains and find any sort of weapon to defend themselves. Jord wasn’t sure he had the power, even with the belt, gloves and hammer of his father, to hold off the giants for long. But he had to try.
As the giants advanced on them, the blades of their great weapons gleamed in the flickering light of the many torches and fires in the slave pits. The center of the cavern, where Jord stood, was wide enough for the giants to start spreading out. Jord saw his error immediately. The giants would have room to encircle him and his mother. They’d be trapped and attacked from all sides, with no avenue for escape.
But as the giants started to spread out to surround them, they were blocked by two huge forces. The ex-slaves split into two groups, and quickly moved in on either side to guard Jord’s flanks.
One of the slaves shouted at him. “Get them, Thor. We’ve got your back.”
Jord smiled. They thought he was his father.
“You’re standing in for a legend today.” Sif readied her sword beside him. “Don’t go tarnishing your father’s spotless reputation.”
It would still be quite a fight, the enemy force was stronger and better armed, but Jord saw hope in the eyes of the people around him. With no armor, and armed for the most part with rocks, chains, and mining picks, the ex-slaves stood ready to accept the charge of the enemy force.
“For Asgaard! Death to the giants!” Jord shouted. Raising Mjolnir over his head, he charged the enemy. Lightning flew from the hammer as the front ranks of the giants met Jord’s forces.
“For Asgaard! Death to the Giants!” The cavern echoed with the cry, and Jord led the bravest group of men and women he’d ever seen into battle.
Chapter 24
Meghan recognized the hall. She’d been here before, at least twice in the past hour.
“Admit it, Thor. We’re lost.”
The old god laughed, holding up his hands. “We’ve been lost from the beginning. We’re just a little more lost than usual.”
Meghan was impressed with Jord’s father. The man never lost his optimism or his sense of humor. She could see where Jord got his courage and honor. Thor was a true hero. Meghan believed no matter how hard Thor was hit, he’d always struggle back up and spit in the eye of his enemies.
Thor headed off toward a tunnel Meghan was sure they’d been down before. “Now, if I could just find a couple more giants to bash around, I wouldn’t feel so bad about being lost.”
They only encountered a few roaming giants as they made their way through the vast tunnels and hallways below Utgard Keep, and Thor dispatched them all quickly and easily, despite still being weak from the beating he’d received earlier.
The place seemed all but deserted. Meghan suspected the army of Fenrir had already moved out toward Asgaard. Could they have possibly emptied out the entire fortress? If everything she’d been told of this place were true, it would house tens of thousands. She feared the army moving out from here would be huge.
“There has to be stairs around here some place.” Thor continued to ramble on. “We are still at least five levels below ground.”
“There’s another one.” They heard the voice coming from down the hall to their left. Meghan saw figures moving toward them.
Thor lifted the club, Pruder, in readiness, but the voice hadn’t sounded like a giant, and it hadn’t seemed threatening.
A group of eight men came marching down the hall toward them. Despite being dressed in rags, the men held their heads high.
They addressed Thor. “Come, join us, good sir.” Meghan remained invisible, even though they hadn’t seen any sign of giants for a while now.
Thor let the men approach. “What’s going on?
“It is the best news possible.” The men smiled. “The God of Thunder himself, Thor, has come to rescue us.”
“Really?” Thor had a hint of a smile on his face.
Another of the men chimed in. “I have seen him myself. He is everything they say, a great warrior, and a true leader. He has singlehandedly taken lower Utgard Keep. We’re freeing all the prisoners in the dungeons, and he’s making an army to attack the keep above.”
One of the others added, “He presents his hammer and the giants tremble before him.”
“Join us.” The first man appeared to be their leader. “Join the army of Thor!”
Thor nodded, motioning the men to lead on. “I will join you gladly, friend. I would like to meet this great thunder god.”
Thor followed the group as they went through the dungeons, freeing prisoners and swelling their ranks. He hung back, though, staying behind the group.
His voice dropped to a whisper. “Stay invisible, Meghan. It could be a trap.”
“Ya think?” she whispered in his ear, and he laughed.
Chapter 25
Jord took a deep breath and smiled. The cavern was a beehive of activity. The forges were running again, but now they were manned by free people, forging weapons for their own defense. Activity was high, but so was morale. People worked hard and smiled freely around him.
They’d suffered losses. The great mound of dead was built in the center of the cavern. Jord, Sif, and Freyr honored them, then Jord used Mjolnir to call down lightning to light the funeral pyre and send the spirits to Valhalla.
As the smoke from the fire rose, Jord could just make out the winged, ethereal shapes coming through the solid rock of the cavern ceiling.
“Really, Jord.” The voice said from behind him. “As if we weren’t busy enough.”
He turned to see his sister, Thrud, standing there, but she was smiling at him.
“Honor them, sis. They fought so bravely.”
Thrud looked around the cavern, at those that survived. “You freed many more than you lost.”
They’d managed to save most of the slaves. Jord had done everything he could to defend those that were still bound in chains during the attack. In the end the giants started to vent their frustrations on the helpless, but the freed slaves fell on the giants quickly, to defend the others.
“Thrud!” Jord’s mother came up on them.
“Hello, Mother,” The Valkyrie turned and hugged Sif. Jord wondered how long it had been since the two last saw each other.
“You look tired.” Sif brushed back her daughter’s hair. “You look so tired.”
Jord noticed his sister’s eyes were dark, almost sunken. Thrud had always been such a strong woman. Now she seemed almost frail.
“It’s been busy, Mom. “With all the wars down in Midgaard, and now this war up here, we haven’t had a moment’s rest.”
“Take some time off.” Sif held Thrud at arms length. “Come home for a while.”
“I will, Mom. Real soon.”
His sister was lying. And his mother knew she was lying. Thrud had a calling, a mission, and u
ntil the world knew peace, she would probably never rest. There were too few Valkyries, since very few of the young goddesses felt the calling, and with Val dead there was now one less.
“I have to go, Mom. I swear. Grandpa is going to have to add on to Valhalla again. So many brave souls.”
Thrud flew up, fading from sight.
His mother wiped a single tear from her eye. He hadn’t really thought about the importance of the work his sister did or how taxing it could be. There were so many more people down on Midgaard than there used to be. So many more conflicts to watch over.
Jord thought about Val, and for the first time in his life, realized how hard it must have been for her to watch over him and still do all the other things a Valkyrie did. He also realized how much he missed her.
“Lord Thor.” One of the freed men came running up to Jord. “There is a new recruit that desires to meet with you.”
“I’m not . . .” Jord started for what must have been the hundredth time, but his mother touched his arm.
“They need to believe.” She spoke softly, so that only Jord could hear.
Jord sighed. “Send him over.” The man dashed off.
He was some yards away, but Jord instantly recognized his father’s swagger. Thor had aged a bit, deprived of the golden apples of Idun for the past six months. His hair was a bit long, his beard a bit scraggly, and his clothing in rags, but his eyes were bright and he was smiling, and that said a lot.
“So.” Thor stomped toward Jord. “I’m out of commission for a few months and you take over the whole franchise.”
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